Thousands of Americans Will Be Denied a Passport Because of Unpaid Taxes

Post by T-R » Sat, Jul 07, 2018, 7:48 PM UTC

yani wrote: post #9

yani wrote: post #8

I am wondering how is this an incentive to pay outstanding taxes.

To answer my question, it is intended for expats living abroad.

Post by somebadguy » Sat, Jul 07, 2018, 7:53 PM UTC

mdorazio wrote: post #17

kybernetikos wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America is one of I believe only 2 countries that demand tax on income from its citizens who live and earn abroad (and who have almost certainly already paid tax on that income to the country in which they are living). My understanding is that they won't always even accept a renunciation of citizenship if they believe you're doing it to avoid paying them taxes. It's no surprise to me that there are significant number…

And? If you're that invested in another country, give up your US passport and get one with the new country. Alternatively, work to get the tax laws in the US changed. It's not like this stuff is a secret - if you want to work abroad you're going to get double taxed. Not paying the US portion of taxes is illegal. I don't understand the issue here, maybe you can explain it to me?

Post by ci5er » Sat, Jul 07, 2018, 7:54 PM UTC

duxup wrote: post #38

ci5er wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of the two or three dozen Americans I have met working overseas for an extended period over the last 25-or-so years, I don't think I know of one that hasn't had it happen at least once... Most end up hiring KPMG (or some such firm -- which is not cheap) to end up doing the filings and follow-up, just so it never (ever) falls through the cracks again... EDIT: There are about 5M Americans working overseas. At an error…

Is this just denied a new passport? Or the ability to leave. If it is just a new passport that would drop the numbers considerably..... also it depends on what the owing the IRS actually means. I noted in another comment that I've had my run ins with the IRS before. Provided you respond to them in a timely fashion (they give a lot of time) they consider it is in one phase. If you don't respond, then it is another pha…

Post by BeetleB » Sat, Jul 07, 2018, 7:57 PM UTC

Godel_unicode wrote: post #21

kybernetikos wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America is one of I believe only 2 countries that demand tax on income from its citizens who live and earn abroad (and who have almost certainly already paid tax on that income to the country in which they are living). My understanding is that they won't always even accept a renunciation of citizenship if they believe you're doing it to avoid paying them taxes. It's no surprise to me that there are significant number…

You're aware that foreign tax can be taken as a credit or deduction, yes? Further not only are you incorrect about the whole "won't accept" thing, they have a whole process for exactly how you do it. Importantly, that process only applies to well-off expats (multiple years at $150k+ or >$2m in net worth) and anyone else who wants out can get out quickly and cheaply. This whole flap isn't about"can't pay", it's about…

Post by macleginn » Sat, Jul 07, 2018, 8:03 PM UTC

pembrook wrote: post #32

Have a feeling this will end up extorting American expats and people who grew up abroad without ever living or working in the US (who are only US citizens because of their parents). When FATCA was passed, it flipped a switch that automatically made tens of thousands of people around the world who have never set foot in the US into criminals by default since they'd never filed US taxes (the US has the only global taxa…